Eradicators - Grade 3s: Part 1

Hey everyone, sorry about the huge delay in updating this guide. I plan to post a number of updates over the next two weeks, and hopefully finish the guide within a month. Fortunately, since my last update, a new mechanic and a new card have become available to the Eradicators, both of which give the subclan some potential new life. As originally planned, I'll be starting my look at the Eradicators with the break rides, followed by the deck's other Grade 3s, its Grade 2s, its Grade 1s, its Grade 0s, and several example builds. However, I will now be adding a new section at the very end, dealing with how Stride can work with Eradicators. This section will probably be delayed until G Booster Set 2's Japanese release, in late February.

Anyway, let's start our look through the ranks of the Eradicators at the top. What are the Eradicator Grade 3s?

Eradicators - Grade 3s: Part 1

Break Rides

 

Eradicator, Vowing Sword Dragon

Erads are fortunate enough to have access to a whopping three break rides to choose from, and where better to start than the first one released? Before the release of Ignition Dragon, Vowing Sword used to be nearly a staple in most Eradicator decks, being run at two or three in many tournament-topping builds. What about now that we have a few more options? Well, his skill is a bit underwhelming. A single retire that can only hit front row rear guards in a subclan with plenty of other cards that specifically retire front row rear guards seems a bit redundant. Further, there are many situations where your opponent will not have frontrow rearguards available for you to retire. Still, the fact that he doesn't cost a counter blast is helpful, considering that Eradicator decks can usually make significant use of every single counter blast available. In addition, Vowing Sword is the only break ride with support cards, most notably a crossride in the form of Eradicator, Vowing Saber Dragon "Яeverse" (which I'll go into more detail on later), as well as its own Grade 0.

So which decks should you use Vowing Sword in? Not many, unfortunately. A deck focused on Vowing Saber Dragon obviously benefits from Vowing Sword, due to the cross-break ride. In addition, the fact that Vowing Sword doesn't cost a counterblast makes it useful when combined with Grade 3s that want a break ride primarily as a way to get the 10,000 power boost rather than the retire, such as Dragonic Descendant.

Advantages:

-No cost

-Let's you choose the retire target

-Crossride

-Best break ride for Dragonic Descendant and Vowing Saber Dragon.

-The cheapest option at the time of this post.

Disadvantages:

-Only retires one card

-Retires front row only

Eradicator, Ignition Dragon

Now let's talk about Ignition Dragon, the break ride from Booster Set 14. Compared to Vowing Sword, Ignition costs more but does more. For 1 counter blast, he retires two of your opponent's rear guards, of the opponent's choice. Since it's usually fairly difficult for a player to get rid of all their units, it's highly likely that Ignition Dragon will have at least some targets when you want to break ride, unlike with Vowing Sword. Also, for decks that care more about quantity than quality when it comes to retires, such as Gauntlet Buster, Ignition Dragon is a huge boon. However, the counterblast cost and the fact that you can't choose retire targets mean that Ignition Dragon is not strictly better than Vowing Sword in all situations.

Advantages:
-Retires 2 cards
-Can retire backrow units
-Best break ride for Gauntlet Buster Dragon

Disadvantages:
-Costs 1 counter blast
-Retire targets are chosen by the opponent

Eradicator, Electric Shaper Dragon

Lastly, there's Electric Shaper Dragon, a unit released in Japan as part of Fighter's Collection 2013. Electric Shaper unfortunately has not received an English release at this time. Since it isn't relevant to the English edition of the card game, I'll try to keep this section short. Electric Shaper's skill retires a backrow rearguard when you retire a frontrow rearguard in the same column. Electric Shaper is...not that good. It requires both your opponent to have full columns and you to have a way of generating retires outside of its skill. It seems perfectly designed to work with Sweep Command Dragon, but given that Sweep Command also requires a large amount of setup on the part of the opponent to work, you end up left with a break ride combo that only generates significantly more advantage than other Eradicator decks when your opponent has filled both their rearguard columns. This break ride is also completely useless when ridden over itself, unless you use rearguard skills to cause retires.

Advantages:
-No cost
-Can potentially retire 2 cards.
-Best breakride for Sweep Command Dragon

Disadvantages:
-Retires backrow only
-Cannot retire unless another unit retires something in the front row first.
-Cannot retire when the opponent does not have a full column

To be continued with...A Guide to Eradicators - Grade 3s: Part 2